Red Stop Sign
by Beedok
Summary: Two 80s romcom anime that were just begging for a crossover. Hibari's psychic powers from the anime linger, and lead her towards the Kasuga's. And with them, new romance opportunities. Kyousuke is certainly cute... And Akane's got plans of her own.


Notes: I'm taking two major liberties. 1) Akane and Kazuya canonically live in _a_ Wakaba neighbourhood, but not necessarily the same one as Hibari's fictional home. 2) I'm grabbing the 'Hibari gets psychic powers' bit from the last episode and... basically nothing else, because that episode is _weird_.

* * *

Kousaku woke with a start as he heard a crash from Hibari's room. Rushing through the sliding doors that separated their rooms (stumbling in the dark a bit), he was shocked to see the blonde sprawled out across the floor. Rolling off the bed just wasn't something Hibari did.

"Pheh, tha' wuz a weird dream," a groggy Hibari mumbled as she sat up.

"Must have been, to get _you_ to fall out of bed," Kousaku said, nervously looking away as he saw through the tangle of bedsheets around her that Hibari was sleeping topless (at least). He became frustrated with himself when he realised what he was doing, yet couldn't quite bring himself to look.

"There were these white crocodiles like dad's always talking about... and I had a prophetic dream in the dream. Oh, and I had telekinetic powers. And dad was acting really weird," Hibari explained as she wrapped herself in the sheets and climbed back into bed.

"Man, what were you eating before you went to bed?" Kousaku asked, nervously glancing over his shoulder to check that Hibari was covered.

"I just had one of the brownies Tsugumi was baking... oh man. She laced them! Sis is baking edibles! And she didn't tell me!"

"Ah! Don't shout!" Kousaku whispered loudly, while internally doubting Tsugumi would do anything like that, gesturing frantically. "It's like 4am."

"That early?" Hibari asked, holding a hand out, as if to reach for her clock, when... the clock hovered across the room into her hand.

Kousaku struggled not to faint at the apparent violation of all laws of physics.

"Says here it's 4:38," Hibari said, before realising what had just happened and staring at the clock. "I... it just... Woah. The powers are real."

"I, but... how did..." Kousaku muttered, his brain still not accepting what he saw.

Hibari gave him a mischievous grin, before pulling the boxer boy forward with a beckoning of her finger and the power of her mind.

"W-wait! Hibari!" Kousaku protested as he slid forward. He was convinced she was going to pull him in for a kiss, when suddenly the pull stopped and Kousaku fell back onto his rear a metre or so from her.

"Nah, that's too easy," Hibari sighed. "I do need to practice with this though, going to see what I can do."

Kousaku gulped nervously. This was going to be a new crazy chapter in his life, wasn't it?

* * *

Kasuga Akane, a girl notable to those who passed her for her reddish mullet of hair, felt rather grumpy as she made her way through an alleyway on her way home from annoying her cousin Kyousuke. She was taking a detour through a halted construction site as she'd missed her usual train station. She'd been much too distracted by thoughts of the lovely Madoka in a wrestling leotard... this weekend was going to be very nice. That the tournament was just down the road from her grandparents', and she was going to be visiting anyway for the long weekend, was too lucky. (Sure, she had to spend _some_ time with her grandparents, because it was Respect for the Elderly Day and all, but she'd surely get to sneak off to the tournament a couple times.) If only the week would go by quicker, so it could be Saturday, rather than Monday.

Akane was so lost in thought, she only realised a few seconds after seeing it that there had been a block of concrete floating in the air. Spinning around, and ducking behind a steel girder to hide, she saw a cute blonde sitting on a pile of... some sort of construction supplies. No way could she identify that stuff. That wasn't what was important though. What mattered was that the girl was focusing on the floating block of steel and concrete. She wasn't sure why, but the girl reminded her vaguely of Hikaru. (Probably the haircut.)

After a moment, the blonde tilted her head, and the rebar block tilted to match. That had to be the Power. Akane found herself so excited she teleported up beside the girl.

"You've got the _Power_ too!?" the redhead asked, suddenly in Hibari's face without a sound.

Hibari's concentration was, to put things mildly, broken. The concret fell to the ground with a clatter as Hibari herself nearly tumbled from her seat on that pile of instant concrete packets.

"The... did you see-wait, how did you even sneak up on me like that?" Hibari asked, staring nervously at this girl with dark red (almost burgundy) hair and... well, a _healthy_ figure Hibari couldn't help envying.

"I teleported. Huh, I'm guessing you don't have that ability, going by the look on your face? What powers do you have?"

"You... who are you?" Hibari asked, still not sure what to make of this mulleted girl.

"Oh, right. Should have probably started with that. Kasuga. Kasuga Akane. Since you have the Power, I'm guessing you've heard of my family?"

Hibari shook her head. "Oozora Hibari. And I have not."

"Really? That's strange... my grandparents are basically the unofficial heads of the 'village', guarding the lake and all that. Usually all the families with the power know about them."

"Families? I... as far as I know, I'm the only one in my family with any abilities," Hibari replied, still a bit off put by this overly enthusiastic girl.

"Only one... that's very unusual. I wonder if it can skip a generation," Akane said, growing a bit lost in thought.

Akane's staring into space as she thought things over soon shifted as her eyes wandered over Hibari. The blonde realised the other girl was definitely checking her out. It didn't take long for her to apparently decide she liked what she saw, and Akane placed a hand on Hibari's shoulder.

"Let's talk about this somewhere a bit less... sketchy," she stated, glancing around at the empty construction lot for a moment.

* * *

"So, yeah. Just telekinesis and, maybe, a prophetic dreaming ability," Hibari said, summing up her experiments for the day as the pair sat in a nearby park.

"Hmm, weird for it to only develop when you're already a teenager," Akane muttered to herself. "So, no teleporting?"

Hibari made her best effort to teleport, though she had no clue how one would go about that. "Don't think so."

"Body swapping?" Akane offered.

"Oh! Oh yeah, that happened the one time with Kousaku," Hibari replied, suddenly feeling a bit of a fool that she'd not connected that to her new psychic abilities.

"A guy?" Akane asked, shivering a bit. "I'd hate to ever let a guy near my body like that... or in any other way. Girls though... just so much better."

"You're _very_ confident in your sexuality. I can definitely respect that," Hibari said, laughing a little. What were the odds she'd meet another psychic who was both around her age _and_ queer?

Akane lit up in an instant, grabbing Hibari's hand. "I'm so glad to hear that. Sometimes people get a bit put off, but I got a feeling you would be better... maybe I've got a little bit of my brothers telepathy? I'm so glad to meet someone who understands."

Hibari smiled, and waited for the other girl to let go of her hand. She realised she'd just given a slightly wrong impression, but she wasn't sure how to explain her own situation to this girl she'd just met.

The handholding was starting to get awkward when the sound of a car pulling up caught both girls attention. The driver's side window descended smoothly to reveal the sharp features and dark sunglasses of Sabu.

"I, uh, hope I'm not interrupting anything, but... Hibari, your father wants you," the slick Yakuza enforcer said.

"Coming, coming. I'll see what dad's demanding this time," Hibari sighed, slipping out of Akane's grip and giving the girl a wave. "I'll talk to you a bit more tomorrow."

* * *

"I don't know if you can trust her," Kousaku whispered to Hibari as they sat on the blonde's bed. "It kind of feels too convenient for her to show up so soon."

They'd both decided it was probably best not to tell Ibari about Hibari's new powers. At least not yet. Kousaku didn't like the idea of a Yakuza gang having access to a psychic. Hibari on the other hand just liked the idea of having a secret this big.

"She seems really genuine. Possibly a little in love with me, which I'll have to figure out a work around for... but I think I can trust her enough," Hibari replied casually, leaning back and wondering how to convince Kousaku to get a little more comfortable on the bed.

Instead she let out a sigh as he stood up and began to pace. Kousaku wasn't sure why hearing that this girl had a crush on Hibari was making him so worried... Jun had tried too, and she hadn't managed to win over Hibari, so...

Kousaku stopped and gritted his teeth as he realised he was worrying about Hibari leaving him. Hibari should be with a girl, that was the natural order of things as he understood it... and Kousaku suddenly had to sit down as the mental picture of Hibari and Rie together hit him.

"I... I still don't know about this, Hibari. You need to be careful," Kousaku declared, struggling to regain composure.

"You worry too much, Kousaku," Hibari replied, trying not to laugh at the boy's attempts at 'subtlety'.

* * *

It was Thursday, and Hibari had found herself getting _Power_ tutorials from Akane each day so far. A few tests in that same construction site had led Akane to feel her abilities lacked the same strength most of the Kasuga clan held, but did show remarkable potential on the control angle.

Now though, they were in an ice cream shop as Akane wolfed her way through her fifth parfait. The redhead insisted that using the power burned calories like nothing else, and Hibari had to agree that she'd been rather hungry lately. (Though she _had_ managed to hold back from showing Kotatsu-esque table manners, despite that hunger.)

"You definitely need to meet my grandparents," Akane declared, pointing a spoon at Hibari. "I can give you some basics, but they'll be able to run you through a few tests. See if you're really part of the village. All that stuff."

"Would it be a problem if I wasn't part of your village?"

Akane stopped with a spoonful of ice cream halfway to her mouth. "You know... that's a good question. I honestly have no idea... all the more reason for you to come this weekend."

"I do have to admit, I'm curious about meeting more folks with the _Power_. Plus a trip up to the mountains sounds kind of nice... maybe I should bring Kousaku," Hibari replied. She noted silently how Akane seemed to grow annoyed any time she mentioned Kousaku. Hopefully it would just take a little longer to discourage the girl's interest.

* * *

Oozora Ibari sat reclining, enjoying a bit of saké as he chatted on the telephone, trying to work out why Hibari wanted to go visit the family of this Kasuga Akane, whom the blonde had only just met. So far he was receiving all good news.

"Hm, so this Kasuga girl, she's definitely interested in girls?" Ibari asked his old friend Akashi.

" _Definitely_. Hasn't caused any problems with the other girls, but the Chairman over at Hana Middle School told me she's yelled at several boys when they tried to flirt. Also a bit of a... I think the term is _tachi_? Meaning she's rather boyish."

Ibari let out a contented laugh at the news. "Maybe the boy's finally taking interest in girls. Just has himself rather strange tastes... I'll need to make sure Kousaku's busy though. He's a good lad otherwise, but he's too confused by Hibari."

"It brings a tear to my eye, that pretty little lark finally falling for a girl," Akashi replied, his tone melodramatic as he no doubt shed crocodile tears.

Ibari struggled with the urge to yell at his old friend as he heard the false lamenting.

* * *

Kousaku (maybe not so) begrudgingly accepted Hibari's leaning on his shoulder as there wasn't much room under the umbrella and it was raining something fierce. Taking advantage of the proximity, Hibari turned and whispered some news in the boy's ear.

"Tomorrow!?" Kousaku yelped as he and Hibari walked home at the end of their Friday classes. "You want me to go with you, to meet the weird eccentric psychic family of this girl you just met? Hibari, this is too risky."

"You're being no fun, Kousaku. It's a chance to find out about a whole village of psychics. How could I say no to that?"

Kousaku's face scrunched up as he pouted. "I still think it's all too fast and too convenient. There's something going on here."

Hibari rolled her eyes as she broke physical contact with Kousaku. "Fine, if you think I'm being that bad with my judgment, maybe don't come. I don't need you poking your finger at Akane the whole trip, trying to figure out if she's an evil alien trying to eat my brain or whatever you're worried about."

"This isn't a joke, Hibari. We'd be going in blind, and facing the supernatural," Kousaku replied, sighing while trying to avoid stepping in puddles.

"Well, what do you say we face it together, like we do for all the rest of life's wackiness?" Hibari asked, leaning near Kousaku's face and giving him adorable puppy eyes.

Kousaku found himself starting to sweat. Hibari was too cute for him to handle. "Okay. Though, really, a guy shouldn't make a face that cu-er, like that."

Hibari just stuck her tongue out. Someday Kousaku would come to his senses, but for now she'd take what she could get.

* * *

In the gloom of early dawn, Kousaku struggled to stay awake as he brushed his teeth. Why they had to leave this early was beyond him, but they were dealing with psychics. Maybe they knew there'd be an accident on a later train?

Spitting out the last of his toothpaste, Kousaku looked up to the mirror, worrying a bit about how tired he'd looked. At least he'd been up early enough to avoid the daily 'wake up call' of terror from Seiji.

"Kousaku, you've got to help me," a feminine voice announced from behind him.

In his tired state Kousaku couldn't tell which sister it was... or if it was Hibari, who he mentally reminded himself he wasn't supposed to consider to be one of the sisters. Stumbling over and opening the door, he was greeted by Tsugumi standing there. She looked rather nervous, which was odd for the sister who was usually the rock that supported her family.

"What do you need?" Kousaku asked, ready to help Tsugumi with whatever she needed.

"I ran out of a Korean sauce I can only get Shin-Okubo. The store I get it from is always impossibly busy by afternoon, I need you to run over and go get some."

"I... but... Hibari and I are," Kousaku began, but the sight of Tsugumi's pleading face was too much. It wasn't fair for the Oozora kids to all combine being _that cute_ with being raised around Yakuza thugs who taught them how to get their way. "Does it open early?"

"Yes, yes. Let me go draw you a map so you can find it. It does get a little confusing. And most of the labels are in _Hangul_. If you hurry you'll be back here in time, don't worry."

* * *

"Well, father, you asked me to tell you when Kousaku left," Tsugumi said as she headed into the office, currently barely lit by the first whispers of the dawn sun.

"Good, good," Ibari replied, staring absently at a picture of is wife holding Hibari from the day the blonde was born. "I'm glad you've seen reason on this, my dear. It's time your brother start growing up, and, if that Kasuga girl is as infatuated as it would seem... no young man on his own could resist for long."

"And if Hibari _does_ resist her advances?" Tsugumi asked. "Will you let things go?"

Ibari turned to his eldest daughter with a stern face. While he was never able to stay mad at her (the girl was the spitting image of her late mother after all), this was one battle he little intention of giving up. "The way of the world is that men need women and women need men. I'm doing this for your brother's benefit. I want my son to have a proper future."

"Very well. Breakfast will be ready shortly," Tsugumi replied, her voice flat and emotionless. If she was really being honest, then she couldn't see how this was love any more, only stubbornness and ego.

* * *

Running down the streets of Tokyo's Koreatown, Kousaku searched desperately for the characters Tsugumi had written. There it-no. That had a little dash on top.

"Gah! I'm never going to find this in time!" the tanned boy grumbled, before realising he didn't actually know what time it was. Pulling back his sleeve to check his watch, Kousaku paled. "I... I'm already late! Gah... I can't fail Tsugumi too. Maybe I can catch a later train. Better to succeed at one thing than fail at two."

* * *

Hibari was fuming as she sat in the train station. Kousaku'd ditched her! After she'd gone and invited him up to the mountains and everything. Going out shopping instead! Of all the nerve.

She'd even dressed extra cute today, with her straw hat, polka dot skirt, and a loose jacket.

She was lost in her grumbling was the blonde she didn't notice as someone approached her, until a confident voice surprised her.

"So, where's your Ko-chan?" Akane asked, the mulleted girl flopping onto the bench beside Hibari.

"I don't know, and I don't care," Hibari replied, crossing her arms and nodding to herself. If Kousaku was going to ditch, then she'd find a way to have fun without him.

"You're really pretty, miss," a young boy's voice announced. "Wanna be my girlfriend?"

Looking down, Hibari saw he was about 5, with poofy blue-black hair, eyes to match, and a cute face that would quite certainly be handsome when he was older.

"Little charmer, aren't you?" Hibari asked, smirking at the boy's boldness.

"Ugh, Kazuya. You shameless little twerp," Akane said, dragging the boy over to her other side by the scruff of his shirt collar. "Forgive my little brother, he's a pervert."

"Pfft, big sis is just jealous because I've got better luck with the ladies than her."

Hibari tried not to laugh as the pair descended into a sibling argument of petty insults. The bickering finally ended in a mutual use of the silent treatment. After a few moments of silence, Akane had begun to tell Hibari all about the area around her grandparents' home as their train pulled up. The redhead's enthusiastic chattering continued as they boarded the train and stowed away their luggage. Kazuya meanwhile... Hibari was pretty sure he was staring at her butt. Boy was definitely starting young.

Hibari was about to take her seat across from the two Kasuga siblings, when a crop of bright blue hair caught her attention.

"Rie? Is that really you?" Hibari asked, as her schoolmate turned her way.

"Hibari? Oh! Are... are you going to the tournament too?" Rie asked, hurrying over to be able to converse more easily with her soft voice.

"Tournament? What tournament?" Hibari asked, glancing towards the Kasugas to see if they knew.

Unfortunately Akane was blushing uselessly as she gave Rie a once over with the subtlety of a brick. Kazuya was similarly lost in thought, though, surprisingly, his thoughts actually seemed innocent for a change as he looked back and forth between Hibari and Rie.

"There's a wrestling tournament up in the mountains," Rie explained as she took a seat beside Hibari. "They're getting folks from all across Kanto, and some of the other nearby areas. It's going to be televised. There's a cash prize for any gym that gets into the quarter finals too. I don't think I have any real hope of winning, but... I might be able to reach the quarter finals. I hope? What do you think?"

"C'mon, you're pretty well on my level for wrestling, Rie, and I've got three black belts. You've got to be more confident in yourself! I bet you could win it, you just have to tell yourself you can," Hibari replied, placing a hand on Rie's shoulder and giving her an encouraging smile.

"You really think so? I... oh, are you two friends of Hibari's?" Rie asked, finally noticing the Kasugas.

"Ah yes, I'm visiting their family. They're, uh," Hibari had to delay a moment, trying to work out a good explanation that didn't reveal her new secret but would explain away the age range. "Distant relations! I just found out about them."

"Oh! Well, hello. I'm Rie, Kawai Rie. It's good to meet you both."

"Cute is right," Akane mumbled, before blushing as she realised what she'd said. The redhead shot to a straight backed position, trying to look proper. "I mean, Kasuga. Er, Kasuga Akane. You can just call me Akane... or, if you come up with nicknames, I'd be totally fine with that."

Rie nodded, a bit unsure what to make of the other girl's response. That use of _boku_ definitely reminded her of Hibari though, even if she saw no resemblance.

"Kasuga Kazuya. Are you interested in younger men?" the boy asked.

Rie stared at him a moment, in a state of shock. "I... I think I need to get back to my coach. It was good seeing you though, Hibari."

Hibari grimaced a bit. "Yeah, great seeing you too, Rie. I'll probably swing by the tournament sometime."

"That sounds good, bye."

As Rie hurried off, both the remaining girls were glaring at Kazuya. The young boy began to sweat under the pressure, and finally let out a defeated sigh.

"Okay, fine. I was too forward," Kazuya grumbled, climbing down to rifle through his backpack. He had a couple _Game and Watches_ packed, along with some manga and a colouring book.

"So, a bit of a romantic butterfly, are you?" Hibari asked Akane.

The girl with the mullet paled at the accusation. "I... that is... she just reminded me of someone."

"Oh? An ex perhaps?"

"No, sadly Madoka has been snared by my dumb cousin. How he manages to get so many cute girls chasing after him, I'll never know. He's just a dork with a baby face," Akane grumbled. "Madoka though... she's like a goddess made human."

Hibari was about to ask for a description of this Madoka girl when Akane's form shifted before her eyes to that of a girl with dark hair, a gentle face, and... well, a figure that easily compared to Rie's, if a little more toned.

"How... wait-no, what if someone sees?" Hibari whispered, still not sure how Akane had managed to transform.

"No one will see," the girl who _was_ Akane replied, her voice sounding different... softer and rather more like Rie's, if Hibari was being honest.

"It only works on one target," Kazuya explained, not bothering to look up from his game.

"I've managed a couple targets before," Akane countered, glaring at her brother and shifting back to her normal form. "They've either got to be really weak willed or drunk for me to manage more than one person at a time though... but yeah, it's targeted hypnosis. I'm the only one in the family who's mastered it."

"Oooh, that sounds very useful," Hibari replied, ideas for how she might use that power already forming.

* * *

"What do you mean the tickets are non-transferable?" Kousaku said, staring at the ticket saleswoman in disbelief. "I've got to get up there."

"Company policy is company policy, sorry kid. You'll have to buy another ticket for tomorrow morning if you want to go," the middle aged woman replied, her voice devoid of all emotion.

"Tomorrow morning? Aren't there any earlier trains?"

"Nope, all the tickets are sold out thanks to the sports tournament. Boxing or whatever," the woman explained.

Kousaku stared at the counter in defeat. He was supposed to be Hibari's back up, now he was going to be a whole day late.

* * *

The hike up towards the mountain home of the Kasuga elders was thankfully much less rough than Hibari had worried. The air was fresh, and the sound of the nearby river flowing filled her with such a sense of peace that she nearly forgot about how annoyed she'd been with Kousaku.

"Gah! Kurumi, dad said he'd look after Jingoro! What's he doing in your suitcase!?"

Hibari froze. That sounded a lot like Kousaku... what was going on?

She had to find out and picked up her pace, holding her hat on her head despite the wind blowing through the mountain valley.

Rounding the top of a final hill, she saw the flustered boy who's voice she'd heard shouting. He was standing beside the river, his back to her. However she could see he had dark messy hair and was wearing a light blue jacket that read 'BOYS' in english on the back. Not far away was a brunette, holding a rather solid looking cat in her arms.

"Pfft, this is perfect," Akane muttered to herself.

Hibari jumped slightly when the redhead vanished from beside her, only to notice Akane had appeared beside the boy in question. That teleporting was going to take getting used to.

"Yo! Kyousuke!" Akane shouted, directly into her cousin's ear.

"Waah! Akane! You-Woaah!" the boy shouted, having turned to yell at his cousin, before losing his footing and falling back into the river.

Hibari watched for a moment, giggling a bit, until she noticed the way the boy was flailing about. There was no way he knew how to swim. Instinct took over as she dropped her backpack and hat to run forward.

The blonde dove gracefully into the water, and managed to intercept the flailing boy before he was washed too far down stream. It didn't take long for her to drag him ashore, though he complained as she did so.

"This is so embarrassing, get saved by a girl," Kyousuke muttered, catching his breath as he sat on the riverbank.

Hibari was rather less out of breath, and enjoying her first proper look at the handsome young man. He was more than a little baby faced, and looked nearly identical to Kazuya apart for the age gap, yet... with his darker hair, and lighter, grey-blue eyes, there was something a bit dashing about him. And also an innocence there, that made him seem to need protecting.

Hibari had to admit to feeling more than a little interested. This Kyousuke was almost certainly that type of soft dork she liked so much.

"Good save there Hibari, but there was no need," Akane said, laughing as she walked over. "He was either going to teleport out or just wash ashore at the bend just downstream."

"I... I kind of forgot about powers," Hibari admitted, a little embarrassed.

Kyousuke found his breath enough to sit up, planning to thank the girl who'd saved him (and give up the last of his masculine dignity for the day), when he caught a proper sight of her. She was... well, the way his brain stopped working for a moment was probably telling enough.

Staring there, his jaw half open, Kyousuke didn't know what to do. Her light hair with flat cut bangs and bright blue eyes reminding him a little of Hikaru, but there was a confidence there that Hikaru lacked. A maturity and fire sat in her eyes... swallowing nervously, Kyousuke realised that she was the last thing he needed in his life, when he was already caught between two girls to start. (Okay, three if you counted Sayuri, but she wasn't really someone he wanted around.)

"Oh come on," Akane grumbled, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at the two of them. "Every cute girl, I swear... how am I ever supposed to get a girlfriend when you keep stealing them all?"

"What?" Kyousuke asked, having been totally oblivious to the way Hibari had been looking at him.

"I bet I can cut a more dashing guy if I tried, right Hibari?" Akane asked, activating her powers to take on the appearance of her cousin.

Unfortunately for Akane's confidence, Hibari responded with laughter. "Akane, you didn't change your clothes. Though, if that's accurate... Kyousuke, you've got nice legs."

"I... these shorts are barely any shorter than the ones he owns," Akane shouted before marching off embarrassed.

Kyousuke was likewise flustered, trying to figure out what he had to have looked like in Akane's strapless teal shirt and red short shorts. It _definitely_ wasn't masculine.

It was then that he noticed Hibari getting up and heading back to grab her stuff, a decided he could regain some face by running ahead to help her.

"Please, let me," Kyousuke offered as he reached the blonde's backpack.

"Ah, a gentleman. I can appreciate that," Hibari replied. If Kousaku wasn't going to be around, then she was definitely going to flirt with this surprisingly good substitute.

She had to stifle a laugh as Kyousuke attempted to hoist her pack, only to almost fall over. When he regained his footing, she felt it was a rather safe bet he was using the _Power_ to carry her bag.

Kyousuke meanwhile wondered at whether Hibari's straw hat might be an omen.

* * *

The main room of the Kasuga ancestral home felt a bit spooky as it was lit only by a fireplace. While the teens of the family seemed friendly enough, the two elders were putting on a strong show of intimidation. Hibari was a hard one to scare though, she'd been staring down her father and his men from childhood after all.

"So, Oozora Hibari, you present the _Power_ , despite no clear lineage?" the old man asked.

"Pretty much," Hibari replied, not really going for the whole mystique angle.

"There is a simple test to see if you are of our village, but... the test could be dangerous if you are not," the grandmother added.

"How dangerous are we talking here? Like... full life or death?"

"Potentially," the grandfather replied.

"Eh, I'm tougher than I look. I could probably handle it," the blonde offered with a wink and a confident smirk.

"Very well. We shall see what the guardian makes of you. I've heard you lack the gift of teleportation?" the grandmother asked. When she saw Hibari sigh and nodded, she continued. "Kyousuke. You've got the best teleportation abilities. You will accompany her on the boat across the lake. If anything goes wrong, get her out of there."

"S-sure thing, grandmother," Kyousuke replied, blushing a little as Hibari winked at him.

* * *

Hibari and Kyousuke sat in a boat on a nearby lake, as they slowly drifted towards an island in the lake's middle. Kyousuke was supposed to be rowing, but was rather lost in thought. After all, he wouldn't have to deal with as many secrets around a girl with the _Power_...

No. No. No. Kyousuke scrunched his face up with determination. He wasn't going to go down that rabbit hole. Ayukawa and Hikaru were already too many options for him.

Even if Hibari's thin shirt was still wet enough from her pulling him out of the river that it was clinging very closely to her. He could just make out the contour of her bra underneath.

"We're going to miss the island if you keep favoring your right so much."

Kyousuke blinked, coming back to earth and realised Hibari was watching him with a bemused look. Turning to get his bearings with their destination, Kyousuke had to admit, reluctantly, that he was indeed majorly off course.

"S-sorry. Just... just got a lot on my mind," Kyousuke explained, laughing nervously as he tried to point the boat back on course.

He felt like sweating a little with way the blonde was watching him. She had a self assured smirk that reminded him of Ayukawa's whenever he made a fool of himself around her. Kyousuke decided his only option was to puff up his chest and show he could row with the best of them... which may or may not have required him to use just a little of the _Power_ to keep up his pace.

"So, the test can't really just be 'get to the island', can it?" Hibari asked, idly placing her hand in the clear waters of the mountain lake.

"I'm. Not. Sure," Kyousuke replied, focused on rowing.

"Well, I guess we're about to find out, now that you're about to run us aground."

"Run us a-" Kyousuke began, until a thund and a crunch shook the boat as the boat collided with a rock in the shallows. He let out a yelp of surprise as the force caused him tumbling out of the boat, into the shallow waters.

The damp boy thanked his stars that the water here was shallow enough he could just stand up, so that he wouldn't have to be saved twice in one day.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll pull the boat to shore," Kyousuke announced, grabbing the rope at the front of the rowboat.

"Such a gentleman," Hibari replied, managing a surprisingly genuine tone despite her inability to keep a straight face.

Just before the boat had been pulled safely to dry ground Hibari stood up and leapt out, landing gracefully a little under 2 metres from the water. Spinning about, she gave Kyousuke a wink. As the boy stared in surprise, a third figure emerged from the foliage not far away.

"So, the guardian hasn't woken up," grandfather Kasuga said, half to himself. "Looks like you've got blood from our village afterall."

"So this is it?" Hibari asked... only to realise that the elder Kasuga was apparently just as distracted by her damp shirt as Kyousuke. The old man staring was rather less pleasant that his cute grandson doing so and she pulled her jacket over for cover. "Hello?"

"Oh, yes. Yes, that is everything for today," the bald old man replied.

"What's so special about this island anyway, grandpa?" Kyousuke asked, while trying to find somewhere to tie the boat.

"I, well, I'm not supposed to say too much when you're still young, but this is where we came from long ago. A lot of it is buried in myth, but we'll explain it to you both later on. Once you become adults," the elderly man declared, before offering a hand towards Hibari. "If you'd like to get back the quick way, I can teleport you."

Hibari looked at his hand and then over to Kyousuke, who had apparently decided to just stand there and hold onto the boat's rope.

"I think I prefer rowing. It's quite peaceful. Almost romantic, to be honest."

"Very well, I'll leave you two to it," the old man replied, chuckling a bit before he vanished.

"It'll be a bit before I'm ready to row back across the lake," Kyousuke said, stretching his arms a to try to loosen them back up.

"As much as I'd like to take that as an offer to spend a bit of time here, I did tell my friend I'd go see her at the wrestling tournament. So, why don't I row us back?" Hibari offered.

"Oh, uh, sure?" Kyousuke mumbled, feeling a little confused at how this girl liked to flirt and yet also poke at his masculinity. What was her goal? This was almost as confusing as Hiromi.

* * *

Hibari was finally getting a chance to grab a little soak, cleaning off after her dip in the river. It had been agreed that, since she was getting on a boat right after arriving, that the soak would wait until after the boating was done.

Enjoying the warm water, she was more than a little annoyed to hear the soft click of the bathroom door being unlocked. It had to be the old man, Kyousuke seemed too easily flustered to peek. And Akane would probably just openly declare her entry.

Hibari decided to slide a little deeper into the water, hoping to better hide her tragically flat chest, as she listened. She could hear the faintest snickering of a dirty old pervert. Annoyed, she decided vengeance was her only option.

Using the _Power_ herself, she flung the door open. The old man was momentarily too confused to act as his mouth opened in shock. It was an opportunity Hibari couldn't pass up, and she flung a bar of soap into his open mouth.

"Mrmph!?" was all he managed as he stared down at the soap in confusion.

"A little privacy, please!" Hibari yelled, before telekinetically slamming the door back shut. Hopefully that would be a fair warning.

In the hallway, the bald old man gagging as he pulled the soap out. That taste wasn't coming out any time soon. His wife would probably laugh all evening if he told her what happened too.

* * *

A small bit of quiet hallway sat unused, despite wrestlers and spectators filling much of the rest of the building. After all, the hallway went nowhere particularly exciting, leading to the boiler room and a cleaning supply room. So it would have been rather surprising to the ears that were not present to suddenly hear the yelp of a teenage girl as she and two others materialised.

"Whew, that was fun!" Hibari announced, wiggling a little as she stood there thanks to the energy from teleporting. "I really wish I could do that on my own."

"Yeah, it's pretty convenient," Kyousuke said, looking around to make sure no one saw them.

"C'mon! I want to see Madoka," Akane announced, heading off down the hall without waiting for the other two.

Hibari and Kyousuke had to hurry after her. At least it was easy to find their way to the main area of the convention centre that was holding the tournament; they just had to following the cheering noises.

"So, who is this Madoka anyway? Competition maybe?" Hibari asked, coyly playing with Kyousuke's impressively poofy bangs.

"I, er, sh-she's a classmate," Kyousuke replied nervously, not sure he wanted to totally bury his chances with Hibari.

"She's going to be _m_ y girlfriend," Akane declared confidently, "Just as soon as I win her from dork boy here."

Kyousuke stared at his red haired cousin, looking a bit annoyed. "You know, you'd have a much easier time of things if you went after guys like most girls."

"Why would I chase a prize I don't want?" Akane asked, before turning away to hunt for the girl she so desired.

Kyousuke rolled his eyes and decided to head in a different direction. After a moment's hesitation, Hibari decided to follow Kyousuke. What could she say? She liked cute dorky boys, as much as Akane disparaged them.

The pair walked through the chaotic sea of people, stopping from time to time to watch a match for a minute or two. Kyousuke wanted to stop at the women's matches more, while Hibari was focused on techniques and didn't really care if it was men or women performing them.

Nonetheless, it was Hibari who spotted Madoka's match, while Kyousuke was rather distracted by a match where one competitor was a bit top heavy. She wasn't sure if she wanted to let him know for a moment, but figured the best way to learn about the competition was to see her in action.

"C'mon, your classmate's over this way," Hibari said, physically turning Kyousuke's face from the woman who was adjusting her leotard.

"Cla-oh! Ayukawa! Let's go," Kyousuke declared, hurrying towards the other match.

Hibari followed, trying her best not to laugh at the distractibility of a teenage boy when it came to girls. The area around Madoka's ring was rather crowded, and for good reason. Hibari had to admit that the dark haired girl's moves were impressive.

"She's had judo training, hasn't she?" Hibari asked Kyosuke as they stood watching.

"Um, I think so? I know she does a couple of martial arts, but I can't really tell them apart. It's not exactly my specialty," Kyousuke replied, wincing a bit at memories of his afternoon in karate club. Maybe if he'd not gotten over confident and tried to fight the captain he would have learned more about it all, but as it was he was too embarrassed to wear a gi again, let alone return to any attempts at martial arts.

"That was definitely jujitsu," Hibari commented, nodding in approval at the way Madoka swung her larger opponent's force around. "I wonder if I could try sparring her sometime."

"Darling? Darling!" an innocent voice rang out, before suddenly a blur had tackled Kyousuke, knocking him from his feet.

Filled with concern, Hibari turned to see what had happened, only to find the boy looking flustered as a cute girl with light brown hair (cut surprisingly short for it's feminine style) clung to him, rapidly expressing her joy to run into him.

"I knew senpai would come and see me, but you were taking so long. I started to worry," the youthful girl said.

"Heh, hey there, Hikaru. Good to see you too."

"Oh, and who is this?" Hibari asked.

Hikaru hopped to her feet, smiling away innocently. "Hiyama Hikaru! I'm senpai's girlfriend."

Hibari couldn't help raising an eyebrow at that, before shooting Kyousuke a piercing glare. As the boy struggled to defend his position Hibari turned back to Hikaru and smiled.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. Oozora Hibari. I'm staying with the Kasuga's for the weekend."

"Oh! That sounds so lovely. Darling's family are so kind and friendly. Just like him," Hikaru declared, grabbing a tight hold onto Kyousuke (who had finally pulled himself up from the floor).

Hibari smiled softly at the light haired girl, before shooting Kyousuke another glare. How could he have such a loving, innocent, and adorable girlfriend, and still let his eyes wander?

"So, how do you know darling's family?" Hikaru asked, tightening her grip on Kyousuke's arm. She didn't want to let him wander off, and, though she was sure it was baseless, she felt worried this confident blonde might try to steal him. The new girl was certainly beautiful in Hikaru's opinion...

"Through his cousin, Akane. She lives fairly close to me."

Hikaru's face lit up. "Akane's so nice! She's always being helpful, and she's really funny. So great to hang out with. Of course Darling's my favourite, with our _very normal_ girl and boy relationship!"

"I didn't think otherwise?" Hibari replied, wondering at the girl's sudden defensiveness.

"Well... good!" Hikaru replied, grabbing onto Kyousuke's arm tighter.

Suddenly the crowd around them began to cheer, and the trio turned to see Madoka's arm being raised by the referee. All three were disappointed to have missed her win. Still they pushed their way against the dispersing crowd to meet up with her.

The dark haired girl climbed out of the ring with impressive grace, and gave Kyousuke a soft smile before taking a drink from her water bottle. A smile that Hibari saw made Kyousuke blush and grin back. How shameless was this boy? Flirting with another girl while his girlfriend held his hand? Though, Hikaru was apparently oblivious, staring happily at Madoka, oblivious to all else.

"Great work, Madoka!" Hikaru declared.

"Thank you, Hikaru," the dark haired girl replied, having finished her water. "I-oh, I'm sorry, I'm not sure we've met?"

Hibari looked at Madoka with a bit of suspicion, but decided to act polite and give her introduction. Hikaru then commandeered the conversation, deciding to explain in detail Madoka's exploits from the day. Somehow the girl, who seemed like sunshine incarnated to Hibari from the start, managed to seem even _more_ innocent by the end of her explanation. And yet, all the while, Kyousuke and Madoka were exchanging romantic looks behind Hikaru's back.

"I bet Madoka will win the tournament!" Hikaru declared confidently as she wrapped things up.

Hibari was about to wish the girl the best of luck, still being polite while trying to figure out how to fix things, when she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"You really don't have to carry my things," an exasperated Rie said.

"Nonsense, you must be tired from all your fighting," Akane replied.

The other four turned to see the two girls walking not far away, Rie in front and Akane carrying several towels and a couple water bottles in her arms. Akane was blushing happily as she did so.

"Rie, hey! How did you matches go?" Hibari asked, causing to blue haired girl to jump a little, having not seen Hibari.

"Oh my! Hibari, hi. I... I actually won all my matches," Rie replied, smiling her gentle smile as she walked over. "I'm so excited! I'm in 6th place in the women's juniors for right now. I can barely believe it."

"Haha! That's great. I knew you could do it."

"Ah, you're the one just behind me," Madoka commented. "Good work. There's some tough competition here."

"I, er, thank you. And you too...um," Rie replied, realising part way she didn't know the other girl's name.

"Ayukawa Madoka."

"Wait, _the_ Ayukawa Madoka? I was told you were one of the contestants to look out for," Rie said, looking nervously towards Hibari for a moment.

"Really? I almost didn't come, if I'm being honest... formal tournaments and such aren't really my thing, but I figured I owed the gals at the gym a favour," Madoka replied

"Well, hey, why don't we show that this is all friendly, go out for dinner," Hibari offered, wanting to both get a better idea on the love triangle she'd just wandered into and spend some time with Rie while not having to worry about Kousaku's eyes wandering (boys really were all the same, weren't they?).

"Ooh, that sounds good. I'm starving," Rie replied.

* * *

The dinner had gone well enough. Kyousuke slowed them all down a bit by not being able to decide on an order, but otherwise it had been a pleasant time. Hibari felt a bit torn, as Madoka did seem nice, but she was still definitely lightly flirting with Kyousuke at times.

For the most part, the conversation had slid to martial arts and music, two interests that Hibari, Hikaru, and Madoka shared. Rie was generally her usual quiet self, and Akane seemed happy to just listen. Kyousuke tried to add input from time to time, but usually just proved how little he knew about subjects, grew flustered, and would go quiet for a while. Usually he'd be drawn back in when Hikaru seemed to remember she was supposed to be paying attention to him, rather than raining praise on Madoka. For a moment, Hibari wondered if there was something more than friendship to Hikaru's adoration of Madoka, but that was probably her own hope to find more queer friends reading too much into things.

Throughout it all, Hibari was planning. She felt it was safe to consider Kyousuke's greatest flaw his indecisiveness. So clearly she just had to find a way to have the right decision made for him. Hibari's eyes drifted over to Akane, and a solution clicked into place. The blonde couldn't help but smile as she felt the problem would be solved before the weekend was over.

* * *

Hibari and Rie were walking back to the hotel alone, enjoying the fresh night air. Madoka and Hikaru had wanted to stay out for a while still as dinner finished, with the Kasuga's happy to stay with them. Rie though, she was much less of an extrovert, and said she had a bit of homework she wanted to finish up.

As she looked over at Hibari's mischievous smirk, she decided it was time to bring up the real reason she'd pulled the blonde away. "You're planning something."

"I... is it that obvious?"

Rie nodded. "That's the same smirk you kept making on the boxing retreat. It's about that Kyousuke guy, isn't it? I saw how he was looking at Hikaru and Madoka too, but... I'm not sure you should get involved."

"How can I not? You saw how that Hikaru girl idolises both of them. She's a young and innocent girl. Finding out the two people she most looks up to were going behind her back like that..."

"Okay. Just... I hope you're not picking sides because the people involved remind you of someone else," Rie said as they reached the hotel entrance. "Good night, Hibari."

"Good night," Hibari replied, a little confused.

On her walk back to the restaurant, she tried to work out what Rie meant. Kyousuke was a lot like Kousaku, so... maybe that _was_ making her feel more like meddling than she would otherwise, but Rie said 'people'.

Hibari shrugged, if she couldn't figure it out then surely it wasn't affecting her planning?

* * *

As they prepared for bed in a shared room back at the Kasuga home, Hibari decided it was time to try to talk Akane into participating in her little plan.

"So, Akane, I've got a question about your little love web with Madoka and the rest," Hibari whispered, getting the (slightly) younger girl's attention.

"It's a headache. Input would definitely be appreciated."

"So... why haven't you used your power to make Madoka think Kyousuke's breaking up with her?"

Akane began to say something, before biting her tongue and thinking over a better way to explain it. "I know it would make my life easier, but I just couldn't say what would need to be said. It would make Madoka cry, and I can't be the one to do that."

"I guess that makes sense. It's a shame you're the only one who can-wait! What about the body swapping? Maybe we could bribe Kazuya to do it?" Hibari asked.

"Please, Kazuya's loyalty can be swayed by a lollipop. We couldn't trust him."

"True... what about Kyousuke's sisters? There's no way they approve of their brother dragging two girls along?"

Akane shrugged. "Kurumi's only marginally more reliable than Kazuya. She'd probably wander off to get burgers. And Manami... well, she kind of thinks Madoka and Kyousuke are a better match. Plus, I'm not sure either could be very convincing as Kyousuke. They're both pretty girly."

"Dang, and I thought it was a good idea," Hibari replied, sitting down and resting her chin in her palm as she looked out the window to think.

"It's a good idea, we just need to find someone who's more responsible and on our side," the red haired girl said, going back to changing out of her clothes from the day.

* * *

"Psst! Wake up! I figured it out," Hibari whispered to Akane, shaking the mulleted girl in the middle of the night.

"Huh? Whaddidya figure out?"

"Me! I'm an option! I could totally do it."

Akane smiled groggily as she looked up at the blonde. She wasn't sure what was going on, exactly, having been dreaming of leading an all female biker gang in some sort of post apocalyptic Tokyo, look. Despite the confusion, Hibari was a pleasant enough site to wake up to.

"Sure, that sounds good," Akane mumbled in reply. "Not much for curves, but you're cute and a fun person. Good legs too."

Hibari blinked, staring down at the other girl in confusion. "What on earth do you think I'm talking about?"

"Solving the romance issue by becoming my girlfriend, right?" Akane asked.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Hibari tried to figure out a reply. In that moment it dawned on Akane that she wasn't actually dreaming, and she realised exactly what she'd said.

"Oh kami... I'm sorry! I thought I was still asleep! Er... not that I'd be against dating you or anything, if you wanted to," she stammered, sitting up.

"Mhm... Moving on. I was referring to swapping with Kyousuke. I don't like playing bad cop, but I think I could do what needs to be done in this case," Hibari explained, trying not to laugh at the way the other girl was blushing.

"Right. That's what we were talking about before bed... "

"Yes," Hibari replied flatly.

"I-yeah. That sounds like it could work," Akane said, "So, what's the plan?"

"You teleport over in the morning, leave a note telling Madoka to meet Kyousuke after her matches tomorrow. Then we lure Kyousuke somewhere, I swap with him, and deal with the break up. I swap back, you go to Madoka to support her, and: tadda, everything's fixed."

* * *

Kousaku was barely awake as he made it to the ticket counter. Worrying about Hibari all night had left him unable to sleep, and he'd dragged himself to the station for 7am, just to make sure he made it. Ibari had been trying to talk him into staying home the night before, and he worried the Yakuza boss might take more direct methods of stopping Kousaku if the latter waited too long to leave.

"One ticket to Okutama, Shiromaru Station, please," Kousaku asked the vendor.

"The Okutama train? Alright. It's going to be a few hours late today though."

"What? Why!?" Kousaku demanded, wishing there wasn't glass preventing him from grabbing the vendor by the shirt. Instead he placated himself by gripping the counter as hard as he could.

"There was a car accident at one of the crossings. They need to make sure all the debris is cleared before they'll send any trains across."

Kousaku's rage evaporated at the news. "Oh, okay. That's very reasonable. I'll wait."

* * *

Kyousuke wondered just where Akane was leading him as he followed her through the bland back hallways of the convention centre. Ayukawa had a match going on, so what were they doing? Surely Akane liked the sight of Ayukawa in a leotard just as much as he did. And her matches for the day were almost over.

"Ah, here we are," Akane declared, pushing open the door to an empty storage closet.

Well, mostly empty. For some reason Hibari was sitting there... handcuffed to a pipe?

"W-what's going on?" Kyousuke asked, looking at the two girls.

"If you come over here, I can explain it to you," Hibari replied, sounding rather seductive.

Confused, Kyousuke walked over cautiously. When Hibari placed a hand around the nape of his neck he panicked, convinced she was going to kiss him. The headbutt he received instead was _definitely_ a surprise.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Kyousake yelped, trying to rub his forehead... only to realised one of his arms was currently chained to a pipe. Nervously, he glanced down to see his own body lying unconscious in front of him. "Okay, I think I'm just _more_ confused right now."

"Ah man, she's out cold," Akane said, reaching down to poke Kyousuke's body. "I told her not to use too much force. You're so fragile."

"What are you two up to?" Kyousuke asked, deeply suspicious.

"Helping you out," Akane replied cheerfully. "You know, I thought you'd be more awkward about ending up in a girl's body."

Hibari's face scrunched up as Kyousuke remembered a rather awkward incident at a bathhouse with Hikaru. "It's... it's not the first time."

"You little pervert!" the redhead hissed, sliding her face right up to Kyousuke. "It's a good thing we've got a plan for this time. So, do you want the easy option or the hard one?"

"What's the easy option?"

Akane walked over to a backpack Kyousuke hadn't noticed at first. It took him a moment to place it as Hibari's bag from yesterday. Smiling, Akane produced a bottle of some type of liquor.

"A-and the heard option?"

"For that, Hibari brought something she apparently borrowed from her little sister," the redhead explained, as she pulled a rather large _something_ out from the duffle bag.

As it dawned on Kyousuke what he was looking at, there was only one question for him: "Is her sister a Loony Tunes character?"

"I know, right? Where do you even buy something like this!" Akane replied, looking down at the comically sized wooden mallet.

"I'll go with the easy option," Kyousuke said nervously, pointing towards the bottle of alcohol.

* * *

"Ow... my head," Hibari groaned as she came to.

"G'mornin'," she heard her own voice slur not far away. "Y'can really handle yer booze..."

Blinking to let her vision refocus, she saw her own form sitting not far away, handcuffed to the wall. There was a moment of massive confusion, before the memories slotted into place.

"It's true, that's the third bottle and he's still conscious," Akane said.

"What can I say? I'm just good," Hibari asked with a confident smile, while hopping to her (or rather Kyousuke's) feet.

"So, are you ready to go do what needs doing?" Akane asked.

"Yep, of course," Hibari replied, dusting off Kyousuke's clothing. "You know, Kyousuke, I'll give you one thing: you've got a pretty decent sense of fashion."

"Thanksh... I still wanna know what it ish you two are doin' though," the body swapped boy said, between a hiccough or two.

"Don't worry my pretty little head about it," Hibari informed him with a wink.

"I don't know wha'sh happenin', but I'm certain I'm doomed," Kyousuka said, more to the ground than the girls.

Hibari rolled her eyes and checked her watch. There was still a bit of time... if she really wanted to be convincing, maybe should should make sure she was late?

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a lone word called out from the hallway.

"Darling?" Hikaru's voice called again. "Darling, Kurumi told me you were down around here?"

"What do we do?" Akane whispered in a worried tone.

"Wait until she leaves?" Hibari offered.

"Nah, Hikaru's persistent. And you can't teleport... there's no way you'd sneak past her."

"Um... what if you go out and distract her?" Hibari offered.

"If I go out she'd want me to lead me to Kyousuke... D'uh! I'll make her think I'm yo-er, Kyousuke."

"Sounds good," Hibari replied.

Akane slid the door open to get her sights on Hikaru, and activated her power. Peeking around the corner, Hibari shivered a little at the girl's expression glassing over as the power activated. Had that happened to her too?

"Hey there Hikaru," Akane announced, strolling out as confidently as she could.

"Sempai!" the youthful girl announced, before pouncing Akane and... laying a massive kiss onto her lips.

Hibari winced a bit at the sight. The redhead meanwhile went into a state of shock, overloaded by such an enthusiastic kiss. Unfortunately, Akane's emotional turbulence threw off her use of the _Power_ , and Hikaru suddenly saw the truth of who she was hugging.

"Wah! I... that's... but..." Hikaru stammered, searching around in a panic.

Hibari tried to hide, but was just too slow.

"Sempai!" Hikaru squeaked, causing Hibari to wince before stepping out into the hallway.

"I'm sorry! I-I though she was you! I... I know it sounds crazy! I mean, she's a girl, and your a boy, and she's got red hair while yours is black and... and..." Hikaru rambled starting to cry. "I swear I don't secretly want to kiss and cuddle with girls! I don't! I'm not a pervert! I'm a normal, normal, girl who likes boys!"

"Cuddle?" Hibari asked, still trying to catch up with what the younger girl was saying.

"Y-yes... girls look so soft and-no! Nope. Nuh-uh." Hikaru blurted.

"That was a nice kiss," Akane said to herself, oblivious to the world around her.

"Wah! I'm sorry Akane!" Hikaru squeaked, starting to hyperventilate as she produced ever fast and less comprehensible denials of lesbianism.

"Hikaru," Hibari said, leaning forward and placing Kyousuke's hands on the small girl's shoulders. "I want you to be honest with yourself. No matter what society says, you won't be happy pretending to be something other than who you are in your heart."

Hikaru looked up into (what were normally) Kyousuke's soft grey blue eyes and began to cry, before leaning forward to hug the one she thought was her darling.

"I'm so sorry, sempai. I was clinging to you so much because I didn't want to admit to myself what I really felt. You're so kind, and I just... I just took advantage of you! Waah!" Hikaru announced, collapsing into tears.

"Shhh, it's okay," Hibari replied, feeling more than a little awkward about this situation. She was definitely going to have to give Kyousuke a good talking to at the end of all this, to make sure he still treated Hikaru well. "Admitting it takes strength. You know what the world is like, and how hard it's going to be, and yet here you are."

"I, but, what do I do?" Hikaru asked, looking up tearfully at Kyousuke's face.

"Well, I think you managed to get yourself a girlfriend," Hibari replied, motioning over to Akane, who had finally finished processing what was happening and was looking both scared and guilty.

"You know what, yeah," Akane declared. "I know you're an excellent kisser at least."

Hikaru blushed, and walked over to the redhead. "I... I need a little time to process everything, but... I do have a lot of questions for you."

"S-sure! I'm happy to help, but Kyousuke and I just need to pop back in that storage room for a moment, okay?"

"Okay," Hikaru replied, a little confused.

Hibari gave an awkward wave as the pair slipped back into the utilitarian room. They both knew that the original plan was no longer necessary, and Hibari wanted back in her own body (hopefully Kyousuke hadn't been sober long enough to notice her issue). They also wondered how much Kyousuke had heard.

The answer proved to be: absolutely nothing. Kyousuke was passed out, snoring lightly.

"Uh oh," Akane muttered.

"What do you mean 'uh oh'?" Hibari whispered, feeling worried.

"You can't switch while he's unconscious," Akane explained. "I don't know why, but it just doesn't work."

"Darn, I'm hard to wake up when I've been drinking too," Hibari replied, sighing a bit. "We'd have to drag him over to some cold water."

"How do we explain your body being passed out to Hikaru? And... wait, look at the time! There's no way he'd regain consciousness after a second swap in time for the date with Madoka."

Hibari winced. "Shoot. She'd be ticked if he doesn't show though, wouldn't she? Okay, I can do this. I just have to treat her to the sort of date I would want to be taken on, I guess... this is so weird."

* * *

It was a whole town. How on earth was Kousaku supposed to find Hibari in a whole town?

Letting out a defeated sigh, he supposed the only option was to pull out a picture of the beautiful blonde and ask if anyone had seen Hibari.

* * *

Madoka couldn't help but stare at her date as she enjoyed the crêpe that said date had just bought her. The day was going well. It seemed like Kyousuke had everything planned out a step or two ahead. And yet, Madoka could tell there was a distance between them right now. She knew her crush had weird days from time to time, as he tried to reinvent himself for whatever reason, but this time somehow felt different.

Hibari, for her part, was fighting her flight instincts something fierce. Pretending to be a boy on a date with a girl... it was a nightmare she'd had more than once. Fears of some scheme her father might dream up.

"Kyousuke, is everything okay?" Madoka asked, deciding she'd waited long enough to let her date bring it up.

"What? Yeah, yeah, everything's fine," Hibari replied, smiling nervously. "I just, um... I've got some stuff on my mind. I'm sorry."

"If you want to call the date off so you can go deal with whatever it is, I'll understand. It's not like you've never had to end things early before," Madoka replied, trying not to sound to sad. This was just something she knew she had to accept with Kyousuke.

"What? I, no, no," Hibari began. Her reply tapered off a bit when she saw what she swore was Kousaku walking into the convention centre not far away. "I... well, I suppose it's not fair to you, for me to be this distracted. Trust me though, things are about to get easier. I'll see you later!"

Madoka was about to ask what that meant when she was left with the sight of Kyousuke running off, back towards the main complex.

"That boy is so strange sometimes," Madoka muttered to herself, before taking another bite of her crêpe.

If she was being honest with herself, Kyousuke was weird _most_ of the time.

* * *

Kousaku drew the baseball bat he'd been hiding in his duffle bag as he slunk down the utilitarian service hallways of the sprawling convention centre complex. He didn't like this place one bit, and yet it was where the witnesses had said Hibari went.

Walking past a number of non-descript doors, Kousaku began to worry that he wouldn't know the room Hibari had been take when he saw it. Or... or what if he was too late?

The image of opening a room to find Hibari's dead body filled his mind with panic. Feeling weak in the knees, Kousaku struggled against the urge to be physically ill as it felt like his heart teetered on the edge of shattering.

No, it wasn't going to happen. He'd felt enough pain with his mother's death, he wasn't ready to feel the pain of losing someone else that he... that he...

That sounded like Hibari's voice behind that door!

Rushing over, he was surprised to find the door was unlocked. In the poorly lit room he found Hibari's form slumped against the wall. The blonde seemed to be just starting to regain consciousness, though was quite groggy. Nervously, Kousaku noted that Hibari's arm was handcuffed to a pipe.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no... I thought something like this was going to happen! I told you!" Kousaku stammered as he rushed over to Hibari's groggy form. "Darn, I've got no idea how to pick the lock... maybe I can dislodge the pipe though, give me a moment!"

"Mrhm?" was all the blonde managed to reply.

Struggling against the metallic pipe's restraints (which were thankfully done fairly cheaply due to the building having been running behind schedule at that point in its construction) Kousaku eventually found himself with both feet up on the wall. There was a slight creaking noise that filled Kousaku with joy, and then a crunch as the pipe dislodged. Suddenly both of them were blasted with very cold water from the base of where the pipe had been connected.

Kousaku, having tumbled a couple feet away when the pipe finally came loose and there was nothing holding him against the wall, avoided the worst of if. The other teen on the other hand had been blasted something fierce, and was a sopping dripping mess.

"Ow my head... why is it always me with the water?" the blonde muttered.

The drowsy blonde was shocked to suddenly be pulled into a vice-like hug by Kousaku.

"Hibari, I'm so sorry. I've been an idiot for so long, but... but when I was out there, worried about you... I realised something," Kousaku explained, taking Hibari's cheeks in his hands. "I-I don't care if you're a guy or not. I love you."

"Wait, don't ca-mphmphrmf," Kyousuke began, before a sudden kiss cut off his efforts to work out the situation.

When he broke the kiss, Kousaku was left with no idea why it looked like Hibari's brain had broken. It had to be happiness... right?

"Kousaku, you idiot," a male voice said behind him (one that sounded vaguely familiar for some reason).

Turning to its source, Kousaku saw a guy with messy black hair and cold blue eyes staring at him. One of the eyes was twitching, and the boy's face a filled with... well, Kousaku could tell it was a lot of emotion, but he wasn't quite sure which one(s).

"I don't know if I want to laugh, cry, or hit you," the unfamiliar teen said.

"W-w-why?" Kousaku squeaked, trying to move to shield Hibari from the new arrival and reaching for his baseball bat (which, unfortunately for Kousaku's confidence, was just out of reach).

"You remember that time you were in the wrong body?"

"I, well, yeah. It's kind of hard to forget something like that," Kousaku replied.

"I found out an easy way to swap with these powers, and wanted to help this guy out with something he was too much of a boy to fix," Hibari explained, pointing to Kyousuke's face as she did so.

Kousaku stammered something that even he didn't quite follow while his brain processed what he'd just heard. "S-so... you're Hibari and he's you?"

Hibari nodded.

Kousaku's brain effectively shut down at that point. His expression was enough to tip the balance in Hibari's warring emotions and she burst out laughing.

"I, but, wait," Kyousuke mumbled, finally coming out of his own state of shock. "What did he mean: I don't care if you're a guy? That doesn't-wait..."

Hibari paled a bit as a look of realisation dawned on... well, technically, her face. Panicking a little, she hurried over and headbutted the boy in her body.

"Ow," Hibari moaned, rubbing her own forehead now that she was herself once again.

Looking down, she saw Kyousuke had ended up unconscious from the collision. Man was that boy fragile. She hoped she'd have a couple minutes to figure out how best to explain things.

* * *

The explanation had been long, and confused Kyousuke at several points. It also seemed to confused Kousaku at times, which made Kyousuke feel less a fool. By the end of it both boys felt like they'd learned a thing or two.

"So, this isn't like that drag stuff Akane was telling me about, right?" Kyousuke asked, still processing things.

"No. Well, mostly no. Like, some people can use that to figure out who they are, or because it's the only chance they get to be themselves," Hibari explained. "But a lot of drag is more putting on a show and being a character... like an onnagata. Or a takarazuka otokoyaku if they'd going the other way."

Kyousuke nodded. He didn't quite understand, but then again, he didn't really get many things. Including takarazuka, despite Madoka's efforts to share her love of it.

"Well, from how I've seen you act, I can at least say that you're more of a girl than Akane at least," Kyousuke said, laughing to himself at his own joke. Well, at least until a can of iced coffee bounced off his head. "Ow."

"I don't know what you're implying, but I'm plenty feminine!" Akane shouted from the doorway, one hand balled in a fist, while the other was holding Hikaru's hand.

"Feh, you're not... wait you're holding Hikaru's hand? Wait, what's going on?" Kyousuke said, realising that this was likely to be a very confusing day.

"What do you mean, sempai? You told me to follow my heart," Hikaru replied, staring at her ex in equal confusion.

"I forgot to explain that," Hibari said half to herself through a closed toothed grimace.

Kousaku, for his part, sat there in silent thought. All this time, he'd thought Hibari was just try to seduce him with the femininity... but she really considered herself a girl.

"Kyousuke, let's go for a little walk," Akane said, grabbing her cousin's hand.

A confused Hikaru hurried after the two of them, though she would lose them shortly when Akane teleported to a more secluded location to bring Kyousuke up to speed.

"Well, that was certainly an eventful weekend. And we've still got Monday, thanks to the holiday. I wonder how the tournament's going to end," Hibari said, watching the others run off.

"I'm sorry."

Hibari turned to see Kousaku with a broken lopsided smile.

"All this time... I was so wrong about you. I thought you just liked to mess with people. I should have listened better," the tanned boy sighed. "I meant what I said, when I thought I was confessing to you. I just hope it's not too late for you?"

"Kiss me."

"P-pardon?" Kousaku stammered.

"You meant to kiss me earlier, but you messed up a little. So kiss me properly. That'll be a start for your apology."

Kousaku crossed the small distance between them and took Hibari's hands in his own, rubbing his thumbs gently on the backs of her hands before leaning in. It wasn't an overly passionate kiss, but it was firm enough. As he broke away, Hibari's smile made his heart race. It was so genuine and soft.

"I don't deserve you," Kousaku muttered.

"No. No you don't," Hibari replied in a soft tone that removed the sting from her statement, and that mischievous little smirk Kousaku couldn't resist.

* * *

"Gaah!" Rie shouted as she was tossed into the ropes.

She'd made it to the semi-finals somehow. The woman across from her was a good five years older, and nearly a weight class larger. She was in over her head. It must have been luck that got her this far.

"Come on Riiieeee!" Hibari's voice shouted.

Soon Kousaku and the others joined in. Rie felt a swell of determination, and threw herself into the match again.

She dodged. She she pulled her opponent into an arm lock. The larger woman struggled against her and she pulled tighter. Rie was beginning to grow tired, the other woman was simply stronger, but if she could shift things just a little and get a pin...

Suddenly, somehow, her opponent managed to shoot out a kick, throwing Rie off balance. The larger woman managed to fall onto her, winding Rie and getting the pin. Struggle as she might, the was no escape as the referee gave the count.

The eruption of cheers as Rie lay in defeat was a depressing sensation. Everyone was happy with her failure... Now it was just to head out of the ring in shame.

"Good show Rie!" Hibari shouted once more.

Confused, Rie looked up to see Hibari, Kousaku, and the others she met this weekend beaming away.

"You got the bronze! That's amazing!" Kousaku declared. "And you really gave that woman a run for her money."

"I lost though," Rie said, trying to explain her feelings.

"What? No way! Third place still gets you prize money! You're the third best at winning here!" Akane declared.

Rie found herself smiling. That really was the better way to look at it. Plus, this way she didn't have to face Ayukawa. The two of them had been getting along quite well, and she'd not been sure how to handle a match with a friend. Fighting Hibari all those months ago had been enough for her.

* * *

Madoka's elbow drove between the larger woman's shoulder blades, knocking her forward. Off balance, she was an easy target for a Judo style throw, and then a leg hold. The larger woman struggled, but couldn't escape, being forced to tap out.

Madoka stepped back and helped the woman up as the crowd cheered.

Between winning the tournament and the surprise of Hikaru sort of hooking up with Akane, it had been a good weekend for her.

* * *

The train back to Tokyo was awkward for two passengers. Somehow Kousaku and Kyousuke had wound up sitting across from one another, and neither wanted to talk about the kiss. But silence wasn't helping get their minds of it. The only one comfortable was Jingoro, purring away on Kyousuke's lap as the boy absently pet him.

"So, uh, I heard you've moved around a lot?" Kousaku asked, receiving a nod from Kyousuke. "Cool. All Honshu, or...?"

"Um, Hokkaido one time. Lasted about 3 months before Kurumi used the _Power_ in the snowball fight," Kyousuke replied.

"Ah," Kousaku said, not knowing what to add. Why were Madoka and Hibari off forming a crowded girls' group and abandoning him?

The awkward silence began to grow again, neither boy knowing how to fix it.

"Huha! Kousaku! We're going to Madoka's for a party. Going to have a proper jam session too," Hibari announced, rushing over and plopping herself down in the chair beside Kousaku and pulling him into a hug. "Just remember, no drunken confessions about the two big secrets you know."

"I-I'll try," Kousaku replied nervously, knowing that he wasn't good at holding his tongue when drunk and how Hibari was quite quick to knock him out when he started gabbing.

"Oh, and I hear you're a bit of a lightweight there, Kyousuke. I hope you're not _chatty_."

"I'm usually too busy making a fool of myself," Kyousuke replied, pouting as he stared out the window.

* * *

It was roughly 3 AM as a quite intoxicated Hibari, carrying a sleeping Kousaku, tried to sneak back into the Oozora home.

"Shush! Kousaku! Yer snorin' too much," Hibari whispered as she slid the outer gate open.

The unconscious boy made no effort to follow instructions as Hibari slipped in and shut the gate behind her. Grimacing, the blonde moved stealthily towards the main building, slipping into the genkan silently. Unfortunately Sabu was waiting there patiently for her, opening his eyes from a meditation.

"You're late," the angular enforcer said, his cold voice devoid of any tells of emotion.

Hibari held a finger to her lip and shushed him. "Quiet. Y-ya might wake Kousaku. He could panic, wakin' up in a strange place. I mean, panickin' ish just part a' his usual wake up routine anyhow."

"Tsugumi and your father wanted to know how your weekend went. Specifically with that Akane girl," Sabu continued, slightly quieter.

"Oh! I got her a girlfriend. Cute thing. Very bubbly. Fixed a cute boy's relationship troubles in the process. And the Kousaku kissed that boy by accident. But he confessed to me, so it's all good," Hibari announced, smiling and giving a quick salute (before realising holding Kousaku was a two handed job and had to move quickly before dropping him).

Sabu smiled. "Ah, so you love birds are a proper item at last. I get to be the bearer of good news for Tsugumi. Even if the boss'll probably have another heart attack."

"Good," Hibari replied, before heading off for the stairs.

Now, she could drop Kousaku off in his bed and then head over to her own... or she could just curl up beside him. The latter seemed so much nicer.

-End-


End file.
